There are certain vehicles that develop an aura over the years. The Toyota Land Cruiser certainly falls into that category. From a utilitarian beginning, it has become a bit more modern without losing the toughness we all loved.
Toyota has always taken a unique approach when it comes to their model lines. The company prefers to launch a model and then stick with it unlike most other car companies. The Land Cruiser is a classic example. The truck was first designed in 1951 with full scale production beginning in 1954. It has come in versions ranging from convertibles to station wagons. As it closes in on 60 years of production, the Land Cruiser is still the lead SUV model for the company. That’s staying power!
The story of the beginnings of the Land Cruiser is surprisingly mundane. The Japanese government asked the company to build a vehicle similar to the Jeep used by the United States Military to such effect. The name of the vehicle is often written as “Landcruiser”, but this is incorrect and obviously so when you know the origins of it. The name was based on the Land Rover built in England. Toyota wanted a similar name that sounded similar.